We left Matthew’s house, and as we walked away, a shimmering light appeared. Tooligan’s face appeared, looking very concerned, and told us that the town of Kokov had been overrun by the undead, controlled by rival magi. We decided to make haste towards Kokov and investigate.

The rest of the group spread out through Shilone, while Ulfgar and I began the trip to Kokov. Zuul ran into Kyle, asking him how he was doing and noticed him holding a giant purse of money. Insidia and Märs went to get some supplies, while Riley and Badger hung around town. Zuul talked to Initiate Rolin to learn more about the second quest.

Date: The 27th of Chornbydown, Y 1205

While walking in the forest, the rest of the group caught up with Ulfgar and I. For the week-long trip, Riley hunted and brought back lots of food for everyone. The trip went uneventfully…

Date: The 4th of Bievember, Y 1205

We arrived at Kokov and immediately ran into Tooligan’s house. At his house, we found two skeletons standing guard outside of his door. Insidia’s disease spontaneously took effect, so Riley took Insidia on the warhorse back to Shilone. After a few hours, they came back, and Insidia seemed healthy again. As we looked more closely, we noticed many more skeletons guarding other house doors and walking around Kokov. We noted Tooligan’s face through his window. He seemed by the situation horribly frightened.

As we approached Tooligan’s house, the skeletons did not react. Thus, I attempted to go inside, at which time the skeletons promptly clawed me. The rest of the group helped to kill the skeletons, easily dispatching them. Tooligan opened the door after we killed the skeletons and told us to hurry inside. He started explaining about the current events going on at Kokov, extrapolating on the mage groups who were responsible for summoning the undead. Apparently, only during the nighttime, the necro groups attack each other. Tooligan also mentioned goblins siding with one of the necro groups. I decided to go rest in order to allow my wounds to heal.
A few minutes later, the group came back rather exhausted and beaten. Having killed about 8 skeletons, it seemed obvious they were worn out. Tooligan was rather disappointed, but the group countered by making him realize he had been simply hiding. Tooligan suddenly ran back to the backroom and brings a red box, which inside contained some candy. Magical candy. “I was saving these for when I would need them, but I guess now it is the time,” Tooligan said.
Tooligan gave us two options: to go to the forest or the sewers. We decided to go down the sewers and explore. It was rather dim and smelly, but at least Märs had her lantern so we could see through the darkness. After a few feet, we began to hear rats squeaking, and seconds later, we noticed rats crawling all over the walls. As always, we were prepared.
Märs throws her lantern, which was full of oil, a few feet in front of us in order to prevent the swarm of rats from attacking us. Ulfgar used his throwing axes and hits some of the rats. I took out my longbow and shot at the rats, but I missed. Riley shot some arrows but also missed. Badger took out his crossbow and shot a few bolts, but missed. Pesky rats! Insidia’s owl swooped and ate one of the rats. The rats passed the fire, most of them being burnt, and bit Ulfgar, making him feel sickened. I shoot another arrow at the swarm, impaling a few rats. The rest of the rats began to run back deep into the sewers, passing through the fire once more and dying.
We arrived at an intersection, turned left, and kept walking, with some light letting us see slightly better. Märs climbed up to knock on the manhole, and thankfully a man opened the manhole and threw a rope to help us climb. I asked for a healing potion, and through Zuul’s persuasive powers, obtained one. Captain Rolish introduced himself and explained that most of their warriors had also been severely wounded. One of the sentry guards asked if we were the group that engaged some skeletons earlier on, and after we said yes, Captain Rolish immediately suggested that we join up forces and take on the skeletons, whose numbers had dwindled to about thirty.
Märs came up with a brilliant strategy: We split up the team into two forces – our main group and the garrison group. We charge along with the garrison group towards the mayor’s house, and after we break through, the garrison group charges at the skeleton group near the silo where the food is. After we retrieve the key for the silo from the mayor, we rejoin the garrison group and kill the rest of the skeletons.
After agreeing, we mustered our strength, opened the barrack’s doors, and charged head on at the skeletons. Riley and I shot with our longbows, while Ulfgar, Badger, and Märs withdrew their swords and attacked. The guards charged out of the barracks and followed our lead and attacked the skeletons too. As more skeletons came, the guards began killing them with ease, while I took out my flail and shield.
The critical point came when we began to lose too many guards and Captain Rolish shouted withdraw, yet we charged once more and wiped out the skeletons around us.
We told the garrison group to go secure the silo, while we ran to the mayor’s house. After easily dispatching two skeletons, we entered and heard goblins from inside as well as dog barking. We attacked the goblins and killed them quickly. We went upstairs in hopes of finding the key to the silo and the mayor, but only found a decapitated mayor. After retrieving the key, we walked back to the silo and found lots of grain bags. With the garrison guards’ help, we distributed the grain bags to civilians through their windows in order to prevent the skeletons, which were guarding the doors, from attacking. We headed back to Tooligan’s house to rest, while the garrison guards went back to the barracks and barricaded the entrance.
These necromancers must be stopped…

The pages of my journal recording the end of the quest found in my previous entry were irreparably damaged in a tavern brawl at the Silver Taphouse, which took place somewhat like this1:

As we celebrated the safe return of Grej Smith to his father from the clutches of the Cutthroats, I lay my journal on the table to better recount our conquests to the throng of listeners. Towards the end of the tale, a group of rival adventurers, obviously envious of our success, began belittling our achievements. To scare them back into their places, Badger aimed a spell to knock off the hat of one of the impertinent pricks.

However, just as he cast the spell, someone in the crowd jostled him causing the spell to bounce off a number of surfaces in the tavern. The magical beam caused one of the barmaids to recoil in fright and spill the contents of her tray, effectively soaking me, the table, and the open pages of my journal. Ultimately, Badger’s spell scorched a patch of fur off the sheriff’s favorite cat2 and earned him a week’s worth of house arrest.

With Badger under house arrest, we were down one member, but we had no time to wait for him to be freed as word came to us that Kyle Stronghow once again had a task for us. He informed us about a possible quest involving a “Mad Wizard Matthew”. We needed to look for Initiate Rolin, who was near the giant tower.

A large crowd had already gathered around the mad wizard, who was shouting nonsense at them. He was accusing Archmage Morzbor of exploiting and undervaluing the commonfolk, and abusing his influence over prominent officials to gain power for himself. There were some around him who seemed to genuinely believe what he was saying, but others scoffed and shook their heads in disgust as they walked past.

We reached the tower and found lots of mage scholars, reading books which contained information about elemental magic and the like. Ulfgar asked where Initiate Rolin was, while Insidia explored the library in hopes of advancing her magical knowledge, and Zuul followed to research the town’s cultural history to see if there was any basis to Mad Matthew’s accusations. We found Rolin’s room, knocked on his door, and he said “Come in, come in”. His room was rather impressive, yet small, and at the window, Rolin stood. He complained about Matthew, and told us that we might be able to “take care” of it for him. He also told us to go to Matthew’s house and find evidence that he might be dealing in dark magic, possibly necromancy, and kill him if he was indeed practicing said dark arts.

We decided that Märs would make his famous halfling muffins and lace them with sleeping draught, in order to knock out Matthew’s butler who would otherwise be a hindrance to our investigation. Zuul carried the muffins, disguised as a poor traveler, and we approached the house planning for Zuul to trick the butler into eating one of the tainted muffins.

As sunset approached, we walked through the forest towards Mad Matthew’s house, when suddenly, a cruel voice called out, “Intruders! Do not let them reach the Manor!” Suddenly, four skeletons came into view with a ghoul apparently acting as their leader.

Riley took out her longbow, and immediately dealt a hit, killing one of the skeletons. I miss but effectively kill a few leaves several feet from my target. Sadly, my inexperience with ranged weapons was displayed to the whole party. Insidia fired her magic missile at one of the skeletons. The skeletons then charged at us, one hitting Insidia and another hitting Ulfgar.
The ghoul ran towards Insidia, trying to bite infect her. Luckily, she resisted the paralyzing properties of the bite. Unfortunately, her arm was wounded with a red festering wound that if left untreated would surely become infected. A skeleton hit Riley, who backed away and attempted to shoot back but missed. I still missed like an idiot. I wish I knew why… Zuul was behind us, inspiring courage with his uplifting flute music, and his summoned rat attacked the ghoul. Riley shot another arrow, killing the second skeleton. I finally hit another skeleton with my flail, killing it in one hit while Zuul’s rat killed the ghoul.

After the battle ended, we quickly headed back to town, where Insidia looked for a healer to heal her festering wound. We talked to Knockar Smith, who told us more about the weapons we picked up from the skeletons and ghoul we had just defeated. The insignias on the weapons indicated that they had been forged by him. He said, “I’ll check my store log tomorrow morning,” heading back inside his room. We went looking for a place to stay and slept the night at the local inn.

Date: The 24th of Chornbydown, Y 1205

Today, we talked to Knockar Smith, who found that three customers had potentially placed orders on the weapons we had found. Zuul and Insidia inquired about the customers, a human travelling merchant, a dwarven merchant and a man named Ernie. Knockar Smith did not seem to know much about the travelling merchant, but offered some information about the dwarven merchant and Ernie. He stated that the dwarven merchant was a rival blacksmith who worked in Shilone and bought him out of much of his wares when he was holding the sale to raise money to free his son. Ernie was apparently just a normal peasant (not the kind of man to normally buy so many weapons). We thanked him for the information and continued our investigation of Mad Matthew.

Thus, we headed back to Matthew’s house in order to continue our investigation, although we were already aware that he dealt in dark magic due to the last night’s encounter. When we reached his house, all that we saw was closed doors and boarded up windows. Zuul took the basket full of muffins and approached the door, while the rest of us hid a ways back. From that distance, we saw the door open, and the butler come out with a bloody meat cleaver. Zuul offered him a muffin, and the butler took one, stared at it, and then said, “These are stale…”, declining the muffin and closing the door.

After several failed attempts to scale the manor’s walls, we decided instead to knock out the butler, and proceed with the investigation. We knocked on the door again, I knocked out the butler, and we entered “quietly”. The inside of the house looked rather poorly lit and unkempt, as if nobody lived in it. Anyhow, we tied the butler up and hid him in the pantry of the kitchen. We walked to a closed door, Märs tried to hear through the door, but heard nothing. We entered and saw a staircase at the far end of the room. They went down the stairs, entered the room, and immediately smelled the awful stench of rotten meat and mold. I stayed upstairs watching guard in case Matthew decided to show himself. Suddenly, I heard a loud boom and saw fire illuminate the room downstairs. Soon afterward, I heard shouts from downstairs, so I ran downstairs as fast as I could.

As I entered the room, I found Riley unconscious, with a ghoul attacking Insidia, two zombies attacking Ulfgar, and Zuul and Märs shooting with their crossbows. Zuul took out his rapier and killed the ghoul, Insidia cast magic missile, and I charged at a zombie, nearly killing it. We all worked together to finish off the final two zombies.

We saw a door on our left, checked and listened at the door for any unusual noises. Zuul went in first, and we see a staff and dagger magically being suspended in the air. We read the inscriptions carved at the bases of the magical cages holding the staff and dagger, and we soon realized that it would obviously be very difficult to obtain the weapons without the password to unlock the magical cages. Suddenly, we heard a pounding come from another door. Zuul yelled, “Hello?”, and I heard a lizard-like noise that Zuul translated as “come in, come in.” Insidia tried to use mage hand to open the door, but it would not bulge. While we made noise, Märs picked the lock on the door, and Insidia used mage hand to open it. A ghoul that looked like Matthew came out and yelled out, “FINALLY A MEAL!” We prepared to fight once more.

Märs and Zuul held the door closed, but the foul stench made Märs feel sick. The ghoul brook through the door and tried to bite Märs, but missed. I charged at the ghoul, dealing some damage, but immediately become sickened by the awful stench. puke. Ulfgar swung his axe and hit the ghoul. Then Riley shot it with her longbow and killed him.

We then left to retrieve the butler and interrogate him about what was happening. He was even more confused than we were. Apparently, Matthew had not left his manor for the past month, meaning that the person we had seen two days ago talking to a big crowd back in town was an impostor. We asked him a few more questions, involving Matthew’s personal items that we found downstairs, especially his staff and dagger and the portrait of a gold-dressed lady. After making him promise not to tell anyone about this incident, we left the house and headed back to speak with Initiate Rolin.

Rolin immediately reacted when he saw the ghoul Matthew’s dead body and said, “That’s quite ghastly, but well I guess this case is closed. Here is your reward.” as he handed us a big chest. We headed back to the inn for the day.

Date: The 25th of Chornbydown, Y 1205

Ulfgar decided to stay behind in the inn to recover from his wounds, while we gathered our things and left once more for Matthew’s Manor, for we still needed to check one more room. The rest of the party told me that, before I had come down to help them defeat the zombies and ghoul, they had discovered a room with a blue electric lizard in a room with a portrait of a golden lady. When we peeked inside, the blue lizard looked up at us from his chair and bolts crackled between the lizard’s horns. Zuul tried to calm the creature, only to make it angrier. I went inside, knelt, and pleaded the lizard for help, for I was sure the lizard was just as upset as we were. After a few words, the creature backed up away from the door, and the intensity of the bolts decreased. Zuul then spoke to the creature once again, being as friendly and persuasive as possible. The creature then went towards Zuul and rubbed its head against his leg – a display of understanding and friendship. After obtaining the lizard (I assume he is now Zuul’s pet), the rest of the group began to loot the house, taking many things which I objected to, since I felt it wasn’t right and would dishonor Matthew’s former memory. We came to terms on what we “could” take, thanked the butler, and left for good.
For now, we awaited our next task. I am beginning to suspect the Tower and Archmage Morzbor might not be so innocent after all…

Editor’s Notes:

1 Some members of the party will not remember this moment due to selective amnesia involving Zuul’s leg hair and the advances of a female orc who held a fancy for a certain party member.

2 For those who want to know, the cat’s name is Miss Pussywhiskers Flufflypants the Third, and I’m pretty sure something similar (but more severe) happened to Miss Pussywhiskers Flufflypants the First and Second. Also, don’t ask the sheriff about the name. He’s sensitive about his cats and has WAY too much time on his hands.

3 Fine, you can call us a fellowship when we’re all level 5 and not a minute before.

Word reached us of a blacksmith selling his wares for insanely reduced prices. Always on the look for bargains2, the party headed towards the shop. After taking advantage of the deals, the party arrived at the counter to find a troubled blacksmith by the name of Knockar Smith. He seemed rather stressed, and as Riley asked him what was wrong, he explained that bandits had taken his son, Grej Smith, and were holding him hostage until a ransom of 1400GP was paid. He was trying to gather the 1400 GP by holding the current sale, but he did not believe he had enough goods to make that much money.

Zuul tried to get a discount from the man, but being stressed as he was, he refused. We decided to help him, nevertheless, for a reward.

Silver Stealers – a Human bandit group that kills travelers on the roads and steals their money

Cutthroats – a bandit group consisting of goblins and hobgoblins, more organized than the Silver Stealers, mean, sneaky, and mostly active during nighttime (darkvision)

Based upon this information, we concluded that the kidnappers were most likely the Cutthroats, and we proceeded to a location specified by Knockar as the ransom drop spot. We then spent the day setting up tactical positions around three climbable boulders – where the bandits would likely be stationed when night came. Badger, Ulfgar, Riley, Märs, and Insidia hid in the forest on both sides of the path, while I stood as bait on the road to draw the bandits out for the ambush we had planned.

A couple of hours later, near nightfall, a group composing of four goblins and a hobgoblin approached. Unfortunately, the rest of the group had failed to conceal themselves3 in the woods effectively, and the hobgoblin noticed the ambush party. He told us to leave, for they had important business to attend to here. In reply, Zuul explained that we were sent by Knockar to give him the gold, but the hobgoblin ignored this and ordered the attack.

Märs aimed with his crossbow at the hobgoblin and hit him in his eye, wounding him terribly4. Badger used magic missile on one of the goblins but missed. The other goblins followed and charged towards us. Zuul shot at one of the goblins that had climbed on top of one of the boulders and wounded him pretty badly. Insidia attacked Zuul’s target and killed him. Badger hit another goblin, while the other two ran towards us. One of them wounded me, but Insidia used enlarge on me and made me HUGE! Märs used sneak attack on one of the goblins and killed him. Ulfgar hit the third goblin and knocked him unconscious. Badger used magic missile again and killed the last goblin. After the battle, Märs tied up the goblin that Ulfgar had knocked unconscious. Then Zuul revived and questioned him. After some persuasion, he prayed for his life and told us he would deliver us to his camp.

The rest of the fellowship took turns keeping watch, while I rested to heal my wounds. During the night, I heard some rustling as the captured goblin attempted to wriggle out of his ropes. As it grew louder, I thought to call and wake one of my comrades, but soon the noise stopped and I heard a dejected sigh as the goblin gave up and went to sleep.

Date: The 16th of Chornbydown, Y 1205

We decided to move out this morning, putting the goblin in the cart, which was pulled by the warhorse. Following the goblin’s directions, we found a tree fort with a large bridge connecting two ancient trees. A ranger came out of the top of one tree and fired a warning arrow at Ulfgar. He then promptly called his dogs with a whistle and prepared to fire again. Ulfgar compelled him to cease fire, and explaining that we came in peace. Apparently, the blasted goblin had led us to the camp of the Silver Stealers, not the Cutthroats. After some tense negotiation, the party was able to leave the Silver Stealers’ camp without conflict. Angered by his trickery, I intimidated the goblin into telling us the truth. He soiled himself and whimpered pathetically, and after a few minutes, revealed to us the true location of the Cutthroats camp.

Date: The 18th of Chornbydown, Y 1205

After walking for quite a distance, Insidia noticed three human bandits chasing us, each with a dog in tow. Zuul tried to convince them not to attack us, but they did anyways5. They surrounded us, and we prepared for another fight.

Insidia used magic missile and killed one of the bandits, while Riley took aim and fired an arrow at another bandit, killing him as well. Zuul and Badger attacked the remaining bandit. Zuul used his crossbow and struck him in the leg. Badger used magic missile and hit him on the shoulder. The dogs charged at us, two of them missing, but one of them injuring Insidia. Ulfgar then hit the final bandit, who took the blow, but remained standing. Märs used sneak attack on a dog, wounding him greatly6. Insidia tried to use shocking force but missed. I cleaved one of the dogs, and Riley fired an arrow at the last bandit and killed him. Zuul took out his rapier and wounded another dog. Badger hit the last dog with magic missile, only injuring it slightly. Märs hit the dog which Zuul hit, and Riley killed the other dog. Badger used magic missile on the last dog, and finally killed the last of the bandit group. We looted the bodies and took the night to recover from our wounds.

Date: The 19th of Chornbydown, Y 1205

The goblin led us to a giant encampment, where two hobgoblins stood guard.

Editor’s Notes:

1 Seriously?!

2 See previously mentioned destitution

3Someone was busy combing his enormous dwarven beard. >.>

4 Attack its weak point for massive damage!

5 So basically Zuul can’t get us out of anything…

6 Märs knows the location of the spleen in almost all living creatures. It’s really quite a talent (until you see his collection, of course O_o)

Together, we went to the Silver Taphouse in order to talk with Kyle Stronghow, our first contact, so that we could perform our duties as adventurers and heroes.

Open Quest(1) – Deliver a basilisk to Tooligan, a man living in Kokov, within a period of two weeks. We could find him at the Brawler’s Booze.

Fascinating! What easier task could there be than to transport a basilisk, a monster whose eyes turn all to dust unless concealed1? Nevertheless, we accepted the quest and promptly bought a cart and a donkey, funded by our good friend Zuul2.

Leaving the town felt like a relief, for I was ready to perform our new quest. Thus, we marched on to the town of Kokov.

Our first night was somewhat quiet, with four of us (Riley, Ulfgar, Zuul and myself ) taking turns keeping watch. I heard some rustling and was about to check it out, but then dismissed it as just the work of a gust of wind.

Date: The 2nd of Chornbydown, Y 1205

Morning came, and we continued on our journey. We came across a deep ravine. The bridge across it hung limply down the cliff on the other side, where a man stood holding a rope tied to the fallen bridge. He stated that he would only throw us the rope after we paid a toll of 20 gold pieces.

Not very enthusiastic about paying him such a ridiculous amount3, Zuul tried to reason with him, explaining that we did not have sufficient funds. The man simply replied, “I will not lower my price, for I have the rope, and you do not.” At this point, he asked for all that we could give him in exchange for him throwing us the rope. I was not about to lose right at the start of our journey, that is, until he felt we needed resort to violence. At that point, he called out something, and six bandits, each armed with a crossbow and a strange stick, came out of the forest and raised their weapons, ready to fire.

I knew there was no easy way out. We consulted with each other, and I came up with an ingenious idea. We would toss a waterskin across the ravine instead of a bag of gold coins, and before the bandits could figure out our trick, we would draw our weapons and attack. Being second in strength only to myself, Ulfgar tossed the waterskin, while Riley, Insidia, Märs, Zuul, and I prepared to charge. But first, we demanded the bandit captain to call off his men4.

Ulfgar tossed the waterskin, and we all charged directly into the woods. While running, I smiled, as I heard the bandit captain say, “What the heck?” when he saw it was water, not coins, that came out of the waterskin. As we charged, two bandits drew out the strange sticks and scratched them against a tree, igniting some sort of smoke that blinded all of us.

To our misfortune, the donkey pulling the cart that bore the basilisk became restless and frightened, and ran away from the smoky brawl taking place. Being the most adept at handling animals, Riley chased after the donkey. Märs, taking advantage of the smoke, stealthily attacked two of the bandits, while I sliced at another. Insidia attacked some bandits with her quarterstaff, while Zuul tried to defeat the last bandit with his rapier, yet was unsuccessful and became badly injured. Rushing to his aid, I cut that bandit down, while Riley came back to help stop the bleeding, having calmed the donkey and basilisk. Ulfgar threw his giant axe at one of the bandits, but missed5. He then took out his throwing axes, and finally got the bandit right in the chest. As the smoke began to dissipate, I noticed that Märs and Insidia were interrogating the last remaining bandit, who revealed the location of the bandit captain (who had run off) after much harassment.

After raising the bridge, we all crossed, and I carried Zuul, being careful to not tear his wounds open again. As we came to a split in the road, we noticed that one led to the cave where the bandit captain was supposedly hiding, while the other continued onwards to Kokov. Märs and Ulfgar (having the most health left) went to investigate the cave, while I and the rest of the fellowship6 continued on our quest, for we had already wasted too much time resting and healing up.

Date: The 5th of Chornbydown, Y 1205

Märs and Ulfgar met up with us today. They told us of how they had defeated the bandit captain, collected some loot, and captured the captain’s fine warhorse. Riley used the warhorse to go hunting and collect some rations, while keeping in pace with the rest of the party.

Date: The 8th of Chornbydown, Y 1205

Last night, the basilisk went berserk due to hunger, and hurt Riley and I pretty badly, but spirits are high as we have finally arrived in Kokov. Eager to be rid of the pesky lizard, we all went directly into the Brawler’s Booze, where we searched for Tooligan. Riley and I waited patiently outside, while Zuul talked with Tooligan, and Märs ordered beer for everyone (I imagine to avoid unwanted conflicts7). A few minutes later, Tooligan and the rest of the fellowship came out of the tavern. We headed over to Tooligan’s house, which was outside of town. Once inside, he went to get a chest, which according to Insidia, held magical properties. Tooligan had to leave and said he would return in two days, and telling us to stay at his house for the night. As the sun settled over the horizon, we each took some rooms and prepared to go sleep.

Date: The 9th of Chornbydown, Y 1205

Last night, completely without warning, we were attacked. I was woken by a very loud bang on the door. Confused, Riley, Ulfgar, and I simply listened again, and heard some strange scratching at the door, when suddenly two bony arms broke through one of the windows. Instantly alert, we gathered our weapons and prepared to defend ourselves, while Riley woke Zuul, Märs, and Insidia who were sleeping in another room. Insidia identified the attackers as skeletons which could only effectively be hurt by bludgeoning weapons. She also informed us that the skeletons had to be controlled by a necromancer who acted as a dark puppeteer. If the necromancer could be found and killed, the skeletons would return to harmless piles of bones. Meanwhile, trying to repel the skeletons, Ulfgar used the blunt end of his axe to attack the skeleton who had broken the window, when suddenly the door unhinged and fell to the floor, revealing three other skeletons. Insidia quickly drew her quarterstaff and charged up a disrupt undead spell, but was unsuccessful. The skeletons attacked Ulfgar quite roughly, so Insidia stood by him to provide support. Riley and I drew our swords and charged at the skeletons, but the skeletons seemed undaunted as our swords glanced of their bleach white bones. Zuul, unwilling to draw his rapier, began to play a soft tune on his flute, compelling all of us to succeed. Märs crawled up the chimney to try to pick off the skeletons with his crossbow, and hopefully catch sight of the necromancer. In the far distance, he saw a cloaked man, who he could only assume was the necromancer. He instantly opened fire on him, but missed as he simply turned and ran off towards the town.

Ulfgar and I were forced to retreat since Insidia was already badly hurt. Riley took up Insidia’s quarterstaff and disarmed8 two skeletons, while Ulfgar took down another. Finally, gathering the last remnants of his strength, Ulfgar managed to hack the final skeleton to pieces. A guard ran up to the house near the end of the battle. Failing to assist during the battle, the guard led us towards town, where a priest healed us. Zuul asked to be allowed to examine the graveyard. The request was met with slight reluctance from a rather tired priest. With enough convincing, he let us and examine the graveyard, and sure enough, four tombs were exhumed, each one belonging to a recently deceased civilian. He was unable to provide further information on the necromancer, so we simply headed back to Tooligan’s house and left a note, explaining why we had to leave and return to deliver the chest to Kyle.

Date: The 15th of Chornbydown, Y 1205

The trip back to Shilone went rather smoothly, and we made it back quickly, despite the days lost. We felt relieved when we arrived, heading to the tavern to deliver the magical chest to Kyle and receive our rewards.

I feel quite positive that our fellowship9 has grown stronger since we left, and that our next quest will be even more successful.

End Quest(1).

Editor’s Notes:

1 Here the writer of the journal is either attempting to be sarcastic and failing rather miserably at it or is just a monumental idiot.

3 We were rather destitute at this point in our journey, so any amount would have seemed ridiculous.

4 He obviously refused…

5 As a result of some failed and hilarious proxy playing

6 Come to think of it, we are kind of like the fellowship. (2 humans, a dwarf, an elf, some little people) But then again, the real fellowship is on a quest to destroy an ultimate evil, and we’re running errands for guys who hang out in taverns.

7 Actually he was just reveling in his new found wealth (Although why we let the rogue do the bookkeeping is beyond me…)

8 I know. Bad joke, but I couldn’t resist.

9 Seriously, if you call us a fellowship one more time, there will be serious consequences. For serious…